Book Buying Survey 2005: The Turnaround

Where do folks go when they want advice on fixing faucets, backyard decks, or a fancy birthday dinner? These days, they head to the public library, where the ever-popular how-to collection has never been doing so well. And if they want to relax after the job is done, they can always cozy up to the latest from a favorite mystery writer or hot new novelist. With fiction now claiming more of the public library budget than nonfiction, they'll have plenty of choices.

These are just some of the conclusions drawn from LJ's annual book-buying survey of public libraries. (Contacted yearly, with new libraries periodically replacing those that have left the survey, the LJ 125 are distributed evenly throughout the country by population.) The good news is that as librarians scramble to satisfy the reading habits of millions, better funding may be on the way. Though budgetary gains have drifted downward in the seven years since this survey was initiated (see "Adult Book Budgets, 1998-2004," p. 38), finally registering a decrease last year, the situation has begun to turn around. At 0.18 percent, the overall increase reported by this year's respondents is indeed slender. But it's a big improvement over last year's 3.3 percent drop and hopefully presages stronger budgets to come.

Not that the picture is entirely cheery. Among libraries claiming deeper pockets, for instance, budget increases averaged a reasonably healthy 8.8 percent. But where libraries suffered cutbacks, budgets fell hard by an average of 15.7 percent. Mid-range libraries serving populations from 250,000 to 499,999 posted the biggest swings, with both increases and decreases averaging 26 percent.

For some libraries this year's bulked-up budget follows a string of reductions, so that spending power may not have recovered yet to previous levels. And static budgets or those augmented only slightly are easily overtaken by rising prices. Ultimately, more is sometimes just not enough. Observes W. Keith McCoy, Roselle PL, NJ, whose library was lucky enough to get a 2.5 percent increase, "We're seeking funding to provide greater depth to both the adult and the children's nonfiction collections."

Finally, among the 22 percent of libraries that reported their budgets have shrunk, nearly 60 percent report saving money this year by buying fewer multiple copies. Nearly 40 percent have cut back on standing orders and 16 percent have opted to buy more paperbacks. But by far the largest chunk of that group say they are buying fewer titles. Evidently, with other avenues already explored, more libraries have had to fall back on their last resort: not growing the collection.

But if libraries are not entirely out of the woods, there's certainly a glow in the distance. This year, 42 percent of LJ's respondents can boast budget increases, a big step up from last year's 31 percent and about equal to 2003's 43 percent. The number of libraries reporting decreases fell from 33 percent in 2003 to 22 percent in 2004. Libraries serving populations of 250,000 and up all have stronger materials budgets on average than they did last year, with libraries serving populations of one million or more breaking the $6 million barrier for the first time in this survey (see "Purchasing Power/Circulation Profile," p. 37).

In addition, even as budgets creep up, libraries are finding creative ways to make more books--and a greater variety of books--available while saving money on processing and shipping among branches. Some of LJ's respondents report collaborating with other libraries, broadening offerings by sharing the same circulation system and even collection development responsibilities. Others have had success maintaining floating collections, with books bought centrally and moving from branch to branch, meeting needs in high-circulation areas. (For more on floating collections, see "The Latest Wave," LJ 10/1/04, p. 48-50.) Although the number of libraries choosing either option is still small--under 20 percent of this year's respondents--enthusiasm runs high for both, with the only negatives being that floaters do occasionally bunch up and that extra copies must be disposed of when a particular floater has run its course.

Circulation, another measure of library success, is also looking up. About half of this year's respondents reported increased circulation, and less than a third saw decreased circulation--about the same as last year. Overall, circulation grew by one percent, and while that's not as grand as the three to four percent gains of 2001-02 or even last year's 1.8 percent gain, it's still traveling in the right direction.

The smaller overall increase in circulation comes partly from factoring in results at libraries where streamlined procedures have turned up a decrease. Notes Catherine Sheanshang, PL of Cincinnati and Hamilton County, "ILS implementation has resulted in different methodologies for counting circulation, and accompanying circulation policy changes have contributed to a decrease." Other librarians report that policy changes intended to produce a more accurate count have led to dips. Some of these dips are one-time adjustments that may be followed by a surge.

Still, the big circulation jumps of recent times may not be recaptured immediately. Librarians have done their job in this area, reversing a late-1990s slump in circulation; the actions they took to get more books moving got big results that may be hard to duplicate year after year (unless, of course, budgets start booming so that many more books can be purchased). Now firmly in place, these actions include the all-important decision to meet demand by buying more popular materials.

In addition, stepped-up promotion, improved programming, and patron reserves made from home have figured largely in circulation success. Promotion in particular has been cited in LJ's last few surveys by a third to nearly two-thirds of the respondents. It's still cited by 41 percent of this year's crowd, but it's only in second place. Increased population, always part of the mix but never a top contender, now ranks first. As Louisa Cowles, Ragged Edge Lib., PA, observes, increased population is the one reason her circulation has shot up, despite a 40 percent budget drop. "This area is developing rapidly, with many retirees arriving from populated areas," says Cowles.

So what are the new neighbors (and, for that matter, longtime residents) actually reading? The answer is fiction, fiction, and more fiction, which for the first time since this survey was initiated squeezed ahead of nonfiction in its share of public library budgets. Just two years ago, fiction claimed 38 percent of the budget; last year, its share jumped to 45 percent; now it accounts for 52 percent. The public library, the one-time entertainment center that with the age of technology became the community's information center, has become the place to meet all these needs.

One reason for fiction's success is that libraries have focused so sharply on popular materials, and fiction is what patrons want to read. It's certainly no surprise that the top fiction in public libraries mirrors the best sellers lists. The popularity of genre fiction also continues unabated, with Christian fiction the runaway favorite in terms of increased interest (it was claimed by three-quarters of LJ's respondents compared with 60 percent for mystery).

But more literary titles do well, too, often propelled by book clubs. Just as the clubs lifted Yann Martel's Life of Pi to the forefront three years ago, so they have lifted Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner (see "Hot Reads in Libraries," below). In the end, the fiction is as varied as the population being served. Offering three unusual titles--Robert Rankin's The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse, Chitra Divakaruni's Queen of Dreams, and Shannon Holmes's B-More Careful--as surprise hits in his library, Mark Anderson, Morris County Library, NJ, observes that "each fits a niche for fiction readers with various tastes."

Nonfiction got a big boost this year from interest in current events, particularly the election. "We're generally agog that political books outcirculated diet books this year," observes Deborah C. Duke, Forth Worth PL, TX. The trend toward cutting print reference continued, with 41 percent reporting decreases. Expenditures for general nonfiction declined in 12 percent of reporting libraries.

Nevertheless, in libraries like Worthington West Franklin Community Library, PA, where Melanie Bowser says there are "more political junkies than ever," nonfiction readership remains high. Still, as libraries have been confiding to LJfor several years, the Internet is taking care of patrons' immediate information needs. Sometimes even the ever-percolating area of science is impacted. "We're cutting out specialized scientific titles," observes Kim Garza, Tempe PL, AZ, especially when the books are out-of-date.

One area of nonfiction that is not suffering is how-to. Just five years ago, only a quarter of LJ's respondents listed how-to among its top circulating subjects; this year it's claimed by over half, putting it right behind health/medicine and cooking in terms of circulation. (It ranks third in expenditures as well.) Since cooking could certainly be construed as how-to, it's evident just how significant this area has become.

"Auto repair, snow mobile repair, lawn mower repair, fireplace design and building, solar heat, wind and water power, roofing, plumbing, siding, walls, floors, bathrooms, kitchens, carpentry, masonry, and lighting are all pretty hot topics, as are electronics and appliances," observes Keith Kinna, Jervis Library, Rome, NY. The list could go on, precisely because this somewhat ill-defined area takes in so much; as Kinna concludes, "There are many more so-called 'how-to' areas (hobbies, arts, crafts, weddings, hunting, cooking, sports, etc.) that we generally do not even include in this category." Indeed, how-to may owe its success on LJ's list partly to shifting perceptions, with respondents attributing more and more to this area as time goes by.

Numerous reasons are given for how-to's phenomenal rise in popularity. Explains Kinna, "Some of the 'how-to' impetus may have been restimulated in the Sixties with the 'back-to-the-garden' or 'back-to-the-earth' movement, but I think there have always been do-it-yourselfers in our area--a blue-collar hangover, perhaps? It saves money." Concurs Imogene Jensen, Silvus PL, IL, "As the economy changed, more people started doing things for themselves." In addition, TV shows have sparked tremendous interest--it's the "Martha Stewart syndrome," notes Nanette Bulebosh of Kiel PL, WI, of the increased popularity of decorating books in her library.

Finally, and perhaps not so obviously, today's how-to books can be just plain fun. From high-style home improvement tomes to books on gardening with the rich and famous, these primers often provide an eyeful of colorful images along with a breezy text--enough to engross any armchair do-it-yourselfer. Sometimes readers dip into these books simply to get ideas instead of specific instruction; other times they simply dip. "I can't understand why cookbooks are so popular when fewer people cook now," marvels Jane C. Pfarner, Kenton County PL, KY. "Should these books go in fiction?"

This year, public libraries are at a turning point. Budgets seem to be pulling out of a big dive; fiction now rules in terms of expenditures; how-to has asserted its centrality in the nonfiction arena. Circulation growth, recently pushed ahead by promotion and demand-driven purchases, may settle down to a more stately rate. Many of these developments are the culmination of trends tracked in previous LJ surveys. Let's just see what next year brings.

Aided by word of mouth, book club orders, and media attention, these two books rose to the top in libraries across the country even though they didn't start out with big-name authors. Interest in Middle East and particularly Afghanistan helped Hosseini's The Kite Runner, but as Susan Knorr, Milwaukee PL, observed of Truss's Eats, Shoots & Leaves, "What a surprise that this topic would be so popular."

*Respondents were able to check more than one area, so the figures do not add up to 100% SOURCE: LJ Book Buying Survey 2005